Chapter 5 – An Uncaring Hand
oOoOoO Minato OoOoOo
"Kakashi, don't be an idiot, you're in no condition to fight," Kushina said, holding him back. It was a measure of his injuries that she actually succeeded in leading him to the temporary medical shelter set up in the academy building.
An explosion echoed from behind her. Minato cursed. "We have a breach in the Eastern section. Anbu squads seven and twelve, report to the Eastern gate."
Damn you Danzo, Minato thought furiously. He couldn't pursue Naruto and the Hyuuga heiress because of the incredible number of enemy ninja. Root, slavish to Danzo's orders, had turned coat without a fuss. No doubt the few that objected had quietly disappeared. Why? You've always been a bastard, but you've been Konoha's bastard. Why would you become a traitor now?
An explosion answered him. He turned, feeling fragments of building ricochet off his deceptively armored coat. A Root operative tried to slip past him at extreme speed. Minato killed him on reflex, dragging a kunai across his inner arm and severing a large artery. The man sagged slowly, falling to the ground from sheer loss of blood. The mask fell, revealing a man from Konoha's hospital.
Minato flinched, then closed his eyes briefly in a prayer for the dead. His face in death wasn't scared, or angry, or even regretful – it was just resigned. "Sarutobi," he whispered, "find my son."
oOoOoO Sarutobi Hiruzen OoOoOo
Unlike the other members of Minato's council, Sarutobi couldn't believe it. Danzo would never betray the village – this had to be an enemy plot of some sort. Yet, the third time he was ambushed by Root, he had to admit that the situation did look bad.
The trees flew by at a rapid pace. His legs may be old, but they could move when he needed them to, and he'd never needed to move faster than he did today.
Another ninja fell in next to him. Hizashi Hyuga's face was grimly determined, as if expecting Sarutobi to reprimand him for leaving his post. Instead, the former Hokage just nodded at him. The battle ahead was going to be dangerous. To retrieve Minato's son, he'd need all the firepower he could muster.
oOoOoO Naruto OoOoOo
It was dark. The constant drip of water reminded him forcibly of the Kyuubi's cage. It was not a pleasant recollection – before, he'd been terrified of the dank room it had lived in. Now, the conditions of the room his former friend had lived in infuriated him. Naruto opened his eyes a crack without changing his breating. He was surrounded by ninja – all of whom looked like jounin.
Naruto cursed. Advocate winced mentally, but kept silent. If he gathered nature energy, they would notice. Still. . .
He reached for nature. It still felt strange, way more difficult than the easy way it had flown into him in his past life, but he could still feel -
The sharp burning on his wrists cut him off. He yelped, more in surprise than pain. Instantly, the jounin alerted.
"See?" The man on his left was grinning. The scar over his left eye made him look distinctively villainous. "I told you it was a good idea to put chakra seals on him."
"What's he going to do? Make a clone?" Another retorted.
"You never know, he might have a seal on him he could activate."
"Enough," the third called, "that Root bastard wanted us to bring the kid to him when he woke."
"Hinata," Naruto said suddenly, "where is she?"
"You don't need to kn - " He cut off with a yelp as Naruto sank his teeth into the unwary hand that reached for him. "Damn you, you little brat!"
With a quick swat, Naruto went flying into the rocky wall. Luckily, he was cushioned by a stupendous amount of grimy moss. All breath left his lungs. He sat there, choking silently, tears running down his face, as two of the ninja held the angry one back. Finally, he seemed to calm down, and a different one grabbed Naruto and slung the dazed boy over his shoulder. To Naruto's dismay, he was unable to muster the control to bite the ninja again.
The room they entered was, well, another part of the cave system near Konoha. It was fitting, really, that Rock village would attack from underground. This cavern was, well, cavernous. It could have comfortably fit a large house, with yard and garden. The walls were tell-tale smooth, speaking of Earth techniques used to shape it, and they were covered in seals.
That wasn't the most remarkable thing, though. The most remarkable feature was the people standing in it.
Danzo smiled at him malevolently. "The jinchuuriki at last."
He wanted to say something. Something witty like 'bite me, one eyed freak' but he was unable to muster the strength, and it came out something like 'murbl ghurbl' which was hardly intimidating. Danzo frowned down at him.
"I ordered him to be untouched," Danzo said, glaring sternly at the man who brought him. The ninja paled and started stammering. Not a Root member, then. From Rock maybe? "Leave. Now. Before I change my mind, and use your blood for a sealing ritual."
The ninja fled. Naruto stared with narrowed eyes at Danzo and the two Root ninja that remained. "You must be out of your mind, Danzo," Naruto said, recovering his voice at last.
The statement seemed to amuse him. He looked down at the jinchuuriki, his eye patronizing. "How so?"
"If I don't kill you, my father will," Naruto said in tones of absolute certainty.
"I have nothing to fear from such a tiny brat," Danzo said, "and Minato will be occupied for quite some time."
Naruto frowned. There was something. . . wrong. "This move is way too rash. You must know we'll win, and when we do, you'll never be welcome at the village again."
"I. . . no. . ." Danzo's uncovered eye shone for a moment, turning bright blue. "As always, I do what I must for the prosperity of the village. I'm going to permanently cripple Rock and Cloud. Sand has been diminishing lately in terms of combat strength. Soon, Fire will reign supreme. The sacrifice of my life is nothing."
Advocate hissed. Even Naruto could tell that these words weren't his own. His accent and inflection had changed, becoming flatter, duller, as if repeating words told to him. He looked at the two Root ninja, but their eyes glowed the same way.
Emotional and thought suppressants, Advocate said calmly, though Naruto could feel the slow boil of fury in his other world. They've been, for want of a better term, brainwashed.
Then this is . . .?
Right. This is the work of my brother, the Architect of Higher Thought. The way Advocate said the name told Naruto a lot about his family dynamics. Naruto. . . I'm going to need a favor.
Name it. There was no doubt in Naruto's mind that without the Advocate, he wouldn't escape this situation.
Let me out.
OooOoO Itachi OoOoOo
The enemy were few in number. That was the inevitable conclusion that came to him. Logically, if they'd had a larger force, the initial ambush would have been far deadlier. A sound strategist would have struck with everything offensively, if only to do the greatest amount of damage. Despite the initial panic over the attacking Rock and Cloud ninja, Itachi's Sharingan had informed him that each Cloud ninja was a member of the diplomatic delegation, which meant -
Itachi's thoughts cut off as he evaded a kunai. He replied with a quick fireball, incinerating the street. The unidentified nin let out an agonized scream before collapsing.
The reason the attack was doing so much damage was simple - most of Konoha's forces had been concentrated on the walls, waiting for enemy ninja to attempt to slip over. When Root had attacked from within, they were caught entirely unprepared, especially when Root sleepers emerged amongst supposedly trustworthy jounin.
In fact, Itachi might be considered one of those sleepers. If he'd been so inclined.
As it stood, their forces had been redeployed around the hospital and academy. The students were being evacuated to the deeper, safer cave structures under the Hokage monument. The hospital had no such luxury. Many patients couldn't be moved. Minato himself was watching over the battlefield relief tents, revealing and slaying enemy infiltrators. Itachi's job was to be very, very good bait.
His thoughts broke off yet again when he spotted the back of a very familiar head. "Sasuke!"
The younger Uchiha flinched, turning slowly to meet his elder brother's furious Sharingan. "Y-yo, Itachi!"
"What are you doing in the middle of the battle?" Itachi said, his cool voice snapping like the crack of a whip. "You could have been killed!"
"B-but mother was sent to the hospital!" Sasuke protested, "I had to see - "
"You should have stayed in the compound - " Another ninja turned the corner, wearing a Konoha headband and a chuunin vest. "Password?" Itachi asked curtly.
"Daytime tiger," the chuunin responded, keeping his hands raised. Itachi nodded. The man extended a scroll. As Itachi reached for it, Sasuke yelled.
There was no killing intent. No warning. Root ninja could perfectly mask their attacks by suppressing all desire to kill their enemies, making them extraordinarily effective assassins and spies. If it wasn't for Sasuke's warning, Itachi would have died. As it was, he flung himself to the side. The blade which should have removed the top part of his skull instead cut a thin track of blood above his left eye.
The chuunin wasn't so lucky. The blade – which didn't actually reach the chuunin – cut his head off. A wind technique and a chakra sword, then. Itachi surveyed his opponent. The man was obviously Root, as the sword bore Konoha watermarks. His face was emotionless – as mask-like as the Anbu gear.
"Another one of Danzo's minions," Itachi said, calmly wiping the blood out of his left eye. He cut off chakra to the site, an old Anbu trick to stem the flow of blood from small wounds. Long term, it would cause tissue damage, but without the use of his left eye in the short term he could end up dead.
"Lord Danzo has ordered me to kill you personally," the Root nin said, raising his sword. Then he blurred.
Itachi almost died for the second time that day. His Sharingan could barely keep up with the mans blade. The blurring edge passed an inch from his neck as he flung himself straight backwards. Whoever this man was, his swordsmanship was extreme. Itachi threw four kunai. The man dodged them easily, stepping in and raising his blades for the killing blow. Suddenly, the knives changed direction, reflecting off each other and twining around a nearby lightpost. One of the knives impacted the Root-ninja in the leg. Another slammed into his arm.
Despite it all, the man kept moving. The blade swept down, the chakra weakened and disrupted but the steel no less deadly. The sword opened a shallow gash from Itachi's shoulder to his waist, spraying the ground with blood. Itachi stumbled backwards, already feeling the edges of shock setting in from the mortal wound.
"This is the end, Uchiha," the Root ninja said, raising his blade in his one good hand. The other dangled limply at his side. His leg was similarly weak and shakey, but Itachi could barely move. Before the blade came down, Itachi locked eyes with the man. Sharingan red met dark brown, and instantly the man froze as Itachi hit him with the strongest genjutsu he could muster. He poised there for a moment, sword on the verge of slaying the wounded Uchiha.
Have to hold him off, Itachi thought, straining against the mans willpower. His chakra was rapidly depleting. The Sharingan faded from his eyes. He's strong.
The ninja broke it with obvious effort, shaking his head like he'd been punched one too many times. Without another word, he brought the sword down. Itachi closed his eyes.
There were three loud, meaty thunks. The ninja went down on top of him, face frozen in permanent surprise at his sudden death. Three shuriken had been sunk deep into his back.
Reinforcements? Itachi thought weakly, turning his head. Sasuke stood there, eyes wide and red with initial Sharingan, holding Itachi's weapon bag. Where . . . did he learn - ?
He coughed weakly, the sound fluid and . Maybe the wound hadn't been as shallow as he'd thought. Itachi slipped quickly into darkness, his brother standing over him.
oOoOoO Kushina OoOoOo
"Another injured here!" Someone called, carting in the unconscious body of Itachi Uchiha.
The doctor cursed and pulled on a fresh pair of gloves. "We need another unit of plasma! This ones missing a lot of blood - and someone get this kid off me!" She swatted at Sasuke, who was holding onto her leg and babbling something about his brother. Her face was a mask of determination. Tsunade was to her right – far, far to her right, working on patients who weren't actively bleeding. Even so, her hands shook slightly while administering healing techniques.
Kushina glared around the room at anyone foolish enough to meet her gaze. Minato had stuck her with guard duty. Guard duty. Inside the medical tent. Which just so incidentally put him in front of her, ready to intercept threats before she could intervene. To make things worse, when she objected he'd used his position as Hokage to make it an order, saying that 'in her condition, she had no place on the battlefield.'
She'd show him how much she could fight. Kushina crushed her ceramic mug, eyes blazing. Nearby patients shifted away from her uneasily.
oOoOoO Sarutobi, Cave System Entrance OoOoOo
It had taken a lot of ingenuity and the use of the Byakugan to find the hidden caves near Konoha. Luckily, during the search Sarutobi had been joined by no less than three members of the Hyuuga branch house and two chuunin who were otherwise unoccupied.
"I'll use clones to clear the traps," Sarutobi said, making the signs.
"No," one of the chuunins said, "I'll do it. You should preserve your chakra."
Three mud clones appeared and proceeded, one by one, into the gaping hole that was the enemy lair. From his position, the Third Hokage's eyes couldn't pierce the darkness inside, but he could hear the sound of kunai splitting the air. The chuunin sighed.
"My clones were all destroyed," he said rather regretfully. "This could take some time."
"We don't have time," Sarutobi growled, stepping forward. "Fire style – Phoenix Sage Flower!"
Hizashi gaped at the old man as he released eight head-sized fireballs into the cavern. "What about the heat bloom? If Naruto and Hinata are in there, they could - "
"Relax," Sarutobi said, hands still poised and eyes closed, "I'm guiding the technique. The heat will warp the seal script and trigger the kunai traps by melting the wires. Besides, the chamber you spotted was well back into the system."
After a moment, he sighed and released the technique. The seven ninja moved as one into the cave.
oOoOoO Hinata OoOoOo
Hinata huddled in her corner of the cell, as she had been doing since she woke up. She was surrounded by ninja, and she didn't know them. They'd tied her hands together, though, so they weren't friends. She peered out between her fingers, wondering what the different symbol on their forehead protectors meant.
Sudden activity made her close her eyes. If she sat there quietly long enough, maybe they'd forget she was here. She couldn't let them know she was watching them.
"Give me a hand, will you, this bastards heavy," one of the ninja said irritably. A loud thump echoed, followed by the sound of the iron hinges squealing as the door opened. "Damn it, he bled all over me. Lousy Uchiha."
Hinata waited until they closed the door, then counted to five before opening her eyes again. A man had been thrown into the cell next to hers. He looked like – well, an Uchiha. She couldn't tell if he had the dark eyes to go with the hair, as the eye that was facing her was covered in bandages. She risked a peek at the guards, who were rather disinterestedly playing some sort of card game.
"U-um," she whispered. The man didn't react. "Hello? A-are you all right?"
He stirred, turning to look at her, his black eyes dim. "Captured. How pathetic."
"I'm sorry," Hinata said quickly, looking down at the floor.
"Not you, me." The Uchiha sighed and pushed himself up against the wall so he could sit up. "I should have known that Anbu order was BS. Now I've gone and lost an eye. Who are you?"
"M-me?" She stammered, surprised. "I'm – um, I mean, I'm Hinato. Hinata. Hyuga."
The Uchiha watched, mouth quirked in a grin despite the terrible situation as she turned a fiery red. "Well, Hinata Hyuga, its nice to meet you. I'm Shisui."
OoOoOo Authors Note oOoOoO
Note to self, apologies to others - never promise an earlier chapter, because life will intervene, and you will rewrite it a hundred times.